Method of attaching outsoles to shoes



Oct. 27, 1936. s, J FINN 2,058,434

METHOD OF ATTACHING OUTSOLES TO SHOES Filed NOV. 26, 1934 Fig. 3 /24 Y/IVVE/VTU/':

SAL 232mm @M MMM Patented Oct. Z7, 1936 FFIQE y A'ihi'i METHOD F AT'I.`

ACHING OUTSLES Sidney J. Finn, Beverly, Mass., assigner to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Paterson, N. J.,

a corporation of New Jersey Application November 26, 1934, Serial No. '754,899

1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in methods of attaching outsoles to shoes.

Objects of the invention are to provide an improved method of activating cement on soles 5 which are to be permanently attached by cement, of locating the respective shoes and soles with respect to each other, and of attachingthe outsoles, by the practice of which method such work may be facilitated and the use of mechanism for locating the shoes and soles avoided.

When outsoles are to be permanently attached to shoes by cement, the shoes and soles usually have cement applied thereto and the cement allowed to dry.

In accordance with the present method, a solvent is applied to the cemented margin of an unattached outsole, the shoe and sole are located in proper position relatively to each other, the shoe and outsole are temporarily secured together while thus located, and then the shoe and sole are placed under pressure. Preferably the solvent used is viscous and hence the quantity applied to the shoe and sole may be readily controlled and predetermined in amount, for example by applying to the cement on the sole a ribbon or threads of solvent which, due to the viscous nature of the solvent, will not spread or coalesce substantially until the outsole and shoe are pressed together.

Preferably the outsole is fed at a constant rate and the threads of solvent, formed by forcing the solvent under constant pressure through a plurality of small or capillary tubes, are laid upon the sole as it is fed past the tubes. The temporary attachment of the shoe and the outsole after they have been located with respect to each other may be effected by presenting the shoe, bottom up, while held in the hands of the operator to a tacking and stapling machine, a fastening or fastenings being inserted at the heel end of the shoe, and it may be at the forepart of the shoe also if desired. The shoe may then be placed under pressure in any of the usual cement sole attaching presses, for example one having an inatable pad, in which case, if the forepart of the sole has not been secured against lateral movement, the relative location of the shoe and outsole may be adjusted before the ination of the pad is completed.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an outsole having its margin roughened and cemented and showing the viscous solvent in process of being applied to the cement on the outsole;

Fig. 2 illustrates the steps of relatively locating the `shoe and outsole manually and temporarily attaching the sole to the shoe by insertion of fastenings therein while the shoe is presented bottom up in the hands of the operator to the fastening-inserting machine; and

Fig. 3 illustrates the step of applying pressure to the shoe and outsole.

In the practice of my invention, an outsole Ill is prepared by roughing the margin of its flesh face, as indicated at I2, then applying to the roughened margin a band of pyroxylin cement (indicated by dotted lines) which is allowed to dry. A shoe upper I4 mounted upon a last I6 is lasted in the usual manner and the overlasted margin of the upper roughened and coated with pyroxylin cement, as is usual in compo work, the cement on both the sole and shoe being allowed to dry. v

Just before the shoe and outsole are to be permanently attached to each other solely by cement, the prepared sole may be presented to a machine, such as that disclosed in an application for Letters Patent of the United States Serial No. 692,- 043, filed October 3, 1933, in the name of Joseph W. Johnson, which applies a predetermined quantity of viscous solvent, such as that disclosed in Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,959,321, granted May 15, 1934, on an application filed in the name of Walter H. Wedger, to the band of dry cement upon the outsole, the cement being extruded by the machine through a number of capillary tubes Il while the sole is fed at a predetermined rate past the tubes. Since the rate at which the outsole is fed and the rate at which the solvent is forced through the nozzles are constant, a predetermined quantity of cement per unit of lengthwise extent of the sole margin will be applied, and the solvent, being viscous and in the form of threads, will not tend substantially to spread or coalesce until the sole is pressed upon the shoe bottom, When it is so pressed, the solvent will be evenly distributed over the cemented areas of the shoe and outsole, providing enough solvent to activate the layer of cement on the outsole and the layer of cement on the shoe without substantial excess, so that when the shoe and outsole are placed under pressure there will be no squeezing out of the cement at the juncture of the shoe and outsole. Thus, the work will be clean and an economy of cement effected.

Immediately after the solvent is applied to the outsole in the manner above indicated, the outsole is placed upon the shoe bottom and located with respect thereto. This may conveniently and with suflicient accuracy be done by the fingers of both hands, as illustrated in Fig. 2, the forepart of the outsole being located laterally and longitudinally by the thumb and two ngers of one hand While the rear part of the shoe is similarly located by the thumb and fingers of the other hand. With the shoe so held, the operator presents the bottom thereof to a fastening-inserting machine such, for example, as that disclosed in Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,106,393, granted August l1, 1914, upon an application led in the name of F. L. MacKenzie, the nozzle I8 of such a machine being indicated in Fig. 2. Upon depression of a treadle, a fastening, for example a tack, Will be driven by a driver 2U into the heel-seat portion of the outsole, this tack passing through the insole and being clinched on the heel plate of the last. If desired, two or more fastenings spaced from each other may be inserted in the heel-seat portion, thereby insuring that the forepart of the outsole will remain as positioned. If desired, of course, a fastening may be driven at the forepart of the outsole, through the outsole and insole into the Wood of the last, such a temporary Atack being readily removable after the shoe and outsole are permanently attached. If the forepart fastening is not employed, the relative lateral position of the forepart of the shoe and the outsole may be adjusted after the shoe is placed in the press, which is immediately done, as illustrated in Fig. 3 Where 22 indicates the toe rest of clamping mechanism by which the shoe is held upon a pad box 24, the pad box containing an iniiatable pad 26 through inflation of which pressure is applied to the outsole I 0. The sole-attaching press employed may conveniently be similar to that disclosed in Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,945,762, granted February 6, 1934, on an application led in the name of Arthur J. Weiss. After the shoe has remained in the press long enough for the cement to set, the shoe is removed and completed in the usual manner.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

That improvement in methods of attaching outsoles to shoes which comprises applying a predetermined quantity of viscous solvent in the form of threads to the margin of a cemented outsole, thereafter manually locating the outsole upon a previously cemented shoe, inserting one or more fastenings to hold the shoe and outsole together, and placing the shoe and outsole under pressure.

SIDNEY J. FINN. 

